Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

About the Midnight Press Conference, it was totally surreal, unrealistic, and quixotic. Never before, and never since, in the entire annals of police history, has a suspect been given a microphone to speak to reporters, and the world, on the evening of the crime. It stands alone as the only time it has ever happened. 

So, why did the Dallas Police do it? They certainly didn't do it for Oswald's sake. They didn't do anything for Oswald's sake. And if they were going to do something for Oswald's sake, they should have gotten him a lawyer. But, I'm sure the FBI guys like Bookhout told Fritz and Curry: no lawyer.  And they didn't do it for the sake of the press. They didn't owe the press anything. Since when do police cater to the press? 

It would have been OK if they called a press conference to talk about the case and take questions from the press, although, even that would have been weird on the very night of the crime. That's more typical when the police are looking for someone, and they're giving an update on the status of the search. But, to call a press conference so that the alleged criminal can talk to the world? It's wacky.

So, why did they do it? They must have had a reason, and it must have been a big reason. That's because it was a struggle for minds, and by giving Oswald a chance to speak his mind, they were enabling him to defend himself and to sell himself, that he wasn't a nut or a hothead or a coldblooded killer. And he did a very good job of doing that at that press conference. He came across as lucid, civilized, polite, in control, intelligent, well spoken, and mature- very mature. That did damage to the State's case. 

Then, there were the specific things he said which were zingers. He said that they were denying him a lawyer, and that did so much damage, they had to try to undo it with the H. Louis Nichols ruse, which Nichols may or may not have been partially in on. I'm sure they had a very good Oswald double there to turn down Nichol's offer to get him a lawyer, which is something the real Oswald never would have done. 

Then, Oswald was able to reveal that he was never even questioned about the JFK assassination. The reporter asked him if he shot the President, and Oswald said, "Nobody has said that to me yet. The first thing I heard about it was when a reporter in the hall asked me that question." Do you accept now that the interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald was anything but normal? It was highly abnormal; and again; I blame the FBI who were really in charge.

Oswald professed his innocence, and he did it convincingly. And they had to know in advance that giving him a microphone to defend himself was dangerous- for them. So, why did they do it? 

This is only a speculation, but I take it very seriously: I think they were hoping to have an opportunity to kill him that night. 

Consider the parallels between the Midnight Press Conference on Friday night/Saturday morning and the Jail Transfer on Sunday morning. 

1. Both filmed and televised. 
2. Both swarming with police. Reportedly, they had so many police in the garage to protect Oswald, but actually it was to create a swarm to conceal Bookhout from the cameras, and Oswald too, since he wasn't really shot. So, what did they need so many cops for at the Midnight Press Conference? Perhaps it was similar. 
3. Both had Ruby nearby. In the case of the garage, they already had Ruby upstairs on the 5th floor, and they wove him into the story afterwards in a "bait and switch." And at the MPP, Ruby was there. We don't know exactly where he was. I have never seen an image of the real Ruby in the assembly room where the conference took place. There is this image, but I don't think he was the real Ruby; he was too young; too burly; had too much hair; and he seems to have an intact left index finger, which the real Ruby did not have. 

The only other image we have of Ruby at the MPP is this one, and the Wizard has convinced me that this was a still image of Ruby that was put into the film. 

Last night, on The New JFK Show with Gary King and Jim Fetzer, Gary played a video of the MPP which went on for at least a couple of minutes with the camera moving, and it never showed an image of Ruby in the room. 

4. Both had a lot of reporters and cameramen present, and the kind who were not going to dispute anything the police said. There was no adversarial press present at either event. 

So, if it was the case, why didn't they go through with it? Again, I can only speculate, but maybe they couldn't get Ruby in the right location to do the bait and switch. Maybe it was just too crowded.  Maybe whoever was in charge decided at the last minute that it was just too risky; that something could go wrong. 

But, if I'm wrong about this, and again I said that it's only a speculation, it remains the case that having the Midnight Press Conference to give Oswald a chance to speak to the press was an extremely odd thing to do, especially when you consider that they were denying him a lawyer. The one he needed to speak to was a lawyer- never mind the press. So, that would only mean that there was another reason for doing it, one that I haven't figured out yet.

And to give it an eerie finish, I'll leave you with this: Anthony Summers reported in his book that when Ruby arrived at the PD, that he was met outside by an off duty police officer named Olsen and his wife, and that they talked to Ruby for quite a while before he went inside. And they were saying things to him like: someone ought to put a bullet in that guy; he'd be doing us a favor; it would make him a hero, etc. Can you imagine a police officer talking like that? And what are we supposed to assume? That it's just a coincidence that they were talking that way to Ruby 36 hours before he supposedly did it to Oswald? I keep telling you: I don't believe in JFK assassination coincidences.